Spooler&#39;s knotter



Jan. 3, 1928.

1,655,011 B. E. BYRD sPooLERs KNOTTER Filedct. 28, 1924 INVENTOR /ZP/WQN w95 A ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 3, 1928.

' UNITED'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BRITTON E. BYRD, 0F DURI-IAM, NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR TO MILL DEVICES COM- IPANY, OF DURI-IAM, NORTH CAROLINA, A CORPORATION OF NORTH CAROLINA.

SPOOLER S IKNOTTER.

Application led October 28, 1924. Serial No. 746,327.

This invention is an improv-ement in knotters, and more .particularly in devices for tying spoolers knotters. In devices of the character in question, the knot is usually formed by a tying bill, having cutting and clamping means for the ends ot the strands to be knotted, and having rotary movement to form the loop in the strands through which the cut and clamped ends are drawn.

Mechanism is also provided for supporting and holding the strands in the proper position for engagement by the bill, and means in connection therewith for tensioning the strands during the formation ot the loop, and other means for stripping the loop from the bill, and for straining the knot after it has been tied.

The stripping and straining mechanismk has heretofore-been a part of the tensioning means, the said means movable with respect to the bill and moved, after the `formation ot the loop in the strands, acting thus to strip the loop from the bill over the cut and clamped ends.

In the present invention, the knot stripping and straining mechanism is independent of the supporting and holding means for the strands, operating independently of said means but in synchronism therewith, and engaging the strands between the bill and one ot' the holding means therefor, thereby to provide tension on both sides of the stripping mechanism.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved device.

Fig. 2' is a front view.

Fig. 3 is a side view of Figure 1 with the near side plate of the frame removed showing the parts in one position.

Figs. 4f and 5 are similar views showing the parts in other positions.

Fig. 6 is a partial top plan view.

Fig. 7 is a detail of the tension plate.

Fig. 8 is a detail ot the tying bill.

In the present embodiment of the invention a suitable supporting trame or casing is provided, composed of side plates 1 an 2 and a cover plate 3 of suitable sheet material. vA handle 1 is connected with the sideplate 1, and the plates are connected together by a screw 5 which passes through registering openings in the plates and has threaded engagement with the handle. A lever or thumb piece 6 is journaled on the screw, and a coil spring 7 encircles the screw between the lever and the side plate 1. The spring presses the lever toward the plate 2, and the lever and spring assist in spacing the plates apart. The spring is connected with the lever and with the trame or casing in such manner as to normally urge the lever 1n one direction, for a purpose to be later described.

The plates are further spaced by an inverted substantially U-shaped member 8 arranged between the plates, and having lugs at the ends of one of its arms which engage slots in the side plates. Screws 10 engage the side plate-s near their ends, and serve to draw the plates together on the U-shaped member 8 which is near the front ends of the plates, and upon an angle plate 11 at the rear ends of the side plates. One of the screws is between the arms of the U-shaped member 8 and the other is near the plate 11, the said plate having lugs at its end engaging slots 12 in the side plates to properly position the spacing plate 11.l

The arms of the U-shaped member have openings alined longitudinally ot the casing or frame, and in the opening ot the rear arm the shank 13 of a tying bill is journaled, the shank having a stop collar 14 in rear ot the said arm. The other end of the tying bill shank is journaled in the plate 11. the said end being threaded and engaged by a nut 15 outside of the plate 11, thus to provide a means for adjusting the tying bill longitudinally of the casing or trame. Between t-he points where it is journaled the shank of the tying bill is helical as shown at 16, and the end of the lever 6 above the pivot screw 5 is Jorked, the arms 17 and 18 extending on opposite sides of the helical portion, and spaced apart therefrom in such manner that when the lever 6 is vibrated the tying bill will be rotated in opposite directions.

The tying bill includes a pair of fixed 'aws 19, between which i-s pivoted the movable jaw 20, and the said jaw has a cam shaped shank which extends through the opening in the Jforward arm of the U-shaped member, the said opening eccentric to the axis of the tying bill, and so proportioned that when the tying bill is rotated the movable jaw will be moved and held away from the fixed jaws over a selected portion of the travel off .the bill, and restored to its normal positionbetween the jaws at. the end of' such period.

ln the operation of the tying bill, the jaws are closed at thel beginning of the bills movement of rotation as shown vin F ig. 3. As the jaws rca-oh the end of the first 180 ydegrees of' their travel they are fully opened, as shown in Fig. 4:. Just as V' they leave the third 'quadrant of their movement, that is after 270 degrees of travel they begin to close, and the closing movement is completed as theyv reach the end of the fourth squadron, near the completion of' 360 degrees of travel. The closing movement cuts the strands, and simultaneously clamps the cut'ends. rlhe rotation of the bill has formed a loop in the strands, and the cut ends are drawn thrcughzthis loop, when the stripping and straining means to be described comes into operation.

Each of the side plates l and 2 is deeply notched at its forward end and on its upper" edge, to provid-e seats 22 and 23 respectively for the strands to be tied. The walls of the notches are inclined as shown to guide the strands into the seats, and the seats are in alinement and in register transversely of the frame, and very nearly in alinement with' the bill end. They are also somewhatbelow the bill, as clearly shown in Figure l. The arrangement is such that the strands to bek tied may be laid in the seats and on the yinner side of the bill, resting on the shank thereof, without the necessity for exercising a greatamount ot care to insure that they are properly positioned.

In tying position, the strands are both on the inner side of the bill. As the bill is rotated by means of the lever 6, a loop is formed in the two strands. The movable jaw of the bill is opened as the bill moves into the position of Figure 4, that is as it nears the end of its first 180 degrees of travel, and it is retained in open posit-ion, until it begins to move through the last quadrant of its travel. At the commencement of such movement over the last 90 degrees, the movable jaw begins to close, and closes on the strands which are held in proper position for engagement by the open jaws in the seat 23. The strands are cut and clamped bythe bill, which then moves on to the .position of Figure 5, having traveled over a distance of' 360 degrees.

In order that a loop may be formed in the two strands during the 180 degree movement of the tying bill, the strands on the near side of the bill, that is those strands between the bill and the plate l must be pushed outwardly, so that as the bill moves through the first 180 degrees of its travel it will swing down behind the strands that is between the strands and the frame. To move thc strands in this manner the tension plate and pusher 24 is provided. Referring arranged, Ythat normally the free end thereof lies just at the inner side of the seat 22. The upper edge of the tensionk plate extends slightly above the seat, and the plate is notched as shown at 25 in register with the strands when they lie in the seat. The tension plate moves in synchronism with the tying bill, lsliding on theinner face ofthe offset portion ot the side plate l, and it will be evident that when said plate moves outwardly, the two strands will be clamped in the seat and notch, and betweenthe tension plate and side plate, so to provide a proper degree of tension for the loop, and a counter-pull against the stripping and straining mechanism to be described.

The inner end of the tension plate is piv- Y' otally connected to one of a pair of radial arms 26 rigid with the ends of a shaft 27 journaled in the side plates. The free Iends ot the arms are connectedY by a rod 28, which passes through arc shaped slots y.V29 in side plates thus to permit movement of' the rod with the arms when the shaft is oscillated. A Vcam plate 30 is detachably connected vwiththefork arm 17 as indicated at 3l, andthe upper edge of the cam plate over a portion .of its lengthis arc shaped on the pivot screw 5 as a center. Just in front of the arc shaped-portion there is a. deep notch 32, and that portion of the plate forward of the notch is extendedV beyond the arc shaped edge, to form a stop 38.

kThe rod 28V has a bushing 34e thereon which engages the slot walls to reduce friction, and whenvthe parts, are in normal position the rod and the bushing rest in the notch of'V the cam plate as yshown in Figure 3. When the lever 6 is swung downwardly the rod is forced forwardly in the slots 29 by the rear wall of the notch 32. until-the bushing moves into engagement with the arc shaped upper edge, thus to operate the tension plate. `As the lever 6 returns` to normal position under the infiuence of the spring 7, the stop 33 engages the bushing. and the parts arerrestored to normal position, the bushing rolling down the Vouter wall of the notch lto the position of Figure 3.

Prior to this return movement, the vstriplOS ping and straining mechanism is operated to strip the loop from the bill, and to strain the knot. The said mechanism comprises an extension 85, which is secured to one ot' the arms 36 of a three arm rocker having a hub 37 journaled on the shait 2T before mentioned. The rocker includes the arm 36, and arms 38 and 39 extending in opposite directions to the arm 36, and spaced apart from each other to receive between them a roller 40 on the fork arm 17. This roller engages the adjacent edges of the cam arms 38 and 39, the said edges merging in a curve as shown.

The arrangement is such that when the lever 6 is swung outwardly the roller 40 will roll along the lower edge of the cam arm 39, which edge, in the normal position of the arts is concentric with the pivot screw 5, until the roller engages the arm 88. The rocker will then be rocked in a direction to throw the extension 35 abruptly upward. The extension is on the opposite side of the bill from the tension plate, and at its free end the extension has an angular portion 4l passing beneath the bill to the opposite side thereof, and the angular portion is notched at 42 to engage the strands betweenV the bill and the tension plate.

Thus when the lever 6 is swung downwardly, the tension plate will iirst be moved to clamp the strands. Next the tying bill will be rotated, and at the same time the tension plate will be moved further to move the strands at that side of the bill out ot the path of movement thereof. As the bill continues to rotate, the movable jaw is opened and the strands are clamped at the opposite side of the bill from the tension plate and simultaneously cut. Lastly the extension 35 is swung abruptly upward, engaging the strands between the. points where they are clamped by the tension plate and by the bill. The movement of the extension strips the loop from the bill, and strains the knot eventually drawing the clamped ends from the bill. This however is not essential, since the strands will be freed when the lever 6 is released by the return movement of the bill and tension plate. As the lever 6 swings to normal posit-ion, the roller 40 engages the arm 39 and returns the parts to normal pition.

A. strap 43 of flexible material connects the ends of the handle 4, and the strap is preferably in two portions, connected by a buck 44 for convenience in adjusting. A guard 45 is secured to the side plate l above t-he tension plate, to guide the strands into the seat 22, and another guard 46 connects the free ends of the side plates outside ot the seats. The cover plate 3 has ears at its forward end lapping on the outer nt'aces of the plates 1 and 2 and screws 47 connect the ears to the side plates.

In operation, the strands to be tied are laid across the frame, passing to the inner side of the tying bill, and resting in the seats. The lever 6 is depressed and the loop is formed. The loop is then stripped from the bill over the clamped ends held by the bill, and the strands are strained to tighten the knot. No particular care need be exercised in placing the strands in the knotter, the arrangement being such that they are automatically guided intothe seats. Referring to Figure 6 it will be noticed that the cover plate is notched at 48 to permit the swinging ot the extension.

Mechanism is provided for varying the pressure exerted on the strands by the tension plate 24. The said mechanism is shown more particularly in Figure 7, wherein it will be noted that the tension plate at its inner end is mounted on the rod 28 which connects the radial arms 26, and which carries the sleeve 34. The inner end of the plate is oilset outwardly as shown, to engage the rod outside the arm 26. Nuts are threaded on to the rod outside of the plate and it will be obvious by turning the nuts in the proper direction, the pressure exerted by the outer end of the plate on the side plate 2 may be varied, the tension plate rocking on the angle between the offset portion and the body of the plate. When the nuts are turned to move the oiset portion toward the side plate 2, the pressure is increased, while when the nuts are turned in the opposite direction the pressure is diminished.

I claim:

l. In a spoolers knetter, means to tie a knot including a rotary tying bill for forming a loop in a pair of strands, the bill having cutting and clamping means to cut and clamp the strands beyond the loop, fixed means at the side of the bill where thev threads are cut and clamped for supporting the strands, means at the opposite side for clamping the strands and for moving them axially of the bill to enable the bill to orm the loop, and independent means engaging the strands between the last named clamping means and the bill to strip and to the loop from the bill over the clamped ends strain the knot against the bill and the said supporting means.

2. In a device of the class described, means including a rotary tying bill, having cutting and clamping means to form a loop in a. pair of strands, and to cut the strands beyond the loop and simultaneously clamp the cut ends, means to clamp the strands on the opposite side of the bill from the. point in the travel or the bill where the ends are cut, and means to vary the tension of the grasp of the clamping means on t-he strands.

3. In a device of the class described, knotting mechanism including means to clamp a pair of strands during the knot-ting thereof,`and` means to regu-late the tension purpose specified, and means to move said ofthe. grasp of the clamping means on the Clamping mea-ns toward andv from the frame 10 strands. thereby to vary the tension of the grasp of 4. In a devicev of the class described., the said means on the-strands.

5 a rame,knotting mechanism, means cooper- Signed at Durham, in the county of Durating with the frame to clamp a pair of ham -and State of North Caroli-na this-18th strands during the knotting thereof, said day of October, A. D". 1924. means movable to move the strands for the BRITTON E. BYRD. 

